About this short course

There have been various changes in marketing in recent years. The customer has changed drastically and the benefits they derive from the products sold by companies have changed. Modern marketing has had to adapt to the digitalisation of the world.

Marketing seeks to integrate a number of activities which now must include the integrating of online and offline communication. Digital marketing communication differs significantly from conventional marketing communication because digital media enables new forms of interactions.

In this module we explore some of the best practice methods marketers can use to adapt to the digital age. We also discuss the different means by which products and services and their corresponding marketing programmes can adapt to build and protect brand equity online. You will become familiar with brand engagement and how to avoid negative brand engagement as well as learn about the benefits of digital marketing. You will also come to understand how digital technology has changed the traditional consumer decision-making process and marketing mix.

Consumers have more power than they have ever had. For example, they can now source reviews on digital platforms from a variety of other consumers and can interact directly with the company via various social platforms and apps. In managing these new types of consumer interactions, many companies have been caught off-guard and have failed to adequately prepare and adapt their processes to deal with immediate response and feedback from customers.

The consumers’ shift to digital technology has decreased the extent of control that a brand manager has over brand meaning. With today’s many-to-many communications model the growth and proliferation of large social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, has ushered in an era in which dynamic and real-time conversations are taking place among consumers on a massive scale, making the control businesses have over brand message and co-creation of brand meaning limited. As a digital age marketer or brand manager, you must consider online branding in your strategy and how you can use online channels to support your brand.

This module therefore concludes with an overview of the world’s top social media channels; Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok and explores the opportunities available for marketers with each of these channels.

You will learn about:

• New perspectives in marketing
• Integrated marketing
• Key issues for branding in the digital era
• Social media marketing and measurement